Welcome

Welcome to the POZ/AIDSmeds Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and
others concerned about HIV/AIDS. Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the
conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning: Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive
and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a
username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own
physician.

All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators
of these forums. Click here for “Am I Infected?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ/AIDSmeds community forums.

We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please
provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are
true and correct to their knowledge.

Finished Reading This? You can collapse this or any other box on this page by clicking the
symbol in each box.

Welcome to Am I Infected

IMPORTANT UPDATE
Posted Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Welcome to the "Am I Infected?" POZ forum.

New members -- those who have posted three or fewer messages -- are permitted to post questions and responses, free of charge (make them count!). Ongoing participation in the "Am I Infected?" forum -- posting more than three questions or responses -- requires a paid subscription.

A seven-day subscription
is $9.99, a 30-day subscription is $14.99 and a 90-day subscription is $24.99.

Anyone who needs to post more than three messages in the "Am I Infected?" forum -- including past, present and future POZ Forums members -- will need to subscribe, with
secure payments made via PayPal.

There will be no charge to continue reading threads in the
"Am I Infected?" forum, nor will there be a charge for participating
in any of the Main Forums; Meds, Mind, Body & Benefits; and Off Topic
Forums. Similarly, all POZ and AIDSmeds pages,
including our "How is HIV
Transmitted?" and "Am I Infected? (A
Guide to Testing for HIV)" lessons, will remain accessible to
all.

NOTE: HIV testing questions will still need to be posted in the "Am I
Infected?" forum; attempts to post HIV symptoms or testing questions in any other forums will be considered violations of our rules of membership and subject to time-outs and permanent bans.

To learn how to upgrade your Forums account
to participate beyond three posts in the "Am I Infected?" Forum, please click here.

Thank you for your understanding
and future support of the best online support service for people living with,
affected by and at risk for HIV.

Leila, there are a number of things going on here. To me the most obvious and important one is that you re-test for HIV.

The reliability of the earlier test result you had seems to me in question because of the unreliability as to what your bf has told you. So I would say that you need to re-test at 13 weeks after the most recent unprotected incident. Hopefully you will continue to test negative, but only the test can give you that answer reliably.

Secondly, from here on in and for the forseeable future I strongly recommend that your bf always wear a latex condom when you have intercourse. This is not what I call a securely monogamous situation in which both parties test negative together and are committed to monogamy. And without those factors in place, having unprotected intercourse is just too risky.

If you and this guy are interested in maintaining your relationship it seems there are some major issues to work on. I suggest you see a counselor or therapist together and perhaps individually as well to get things sorted out.

Andy,Thank you so much for your quick response. I realize it seemed sarcastic when I said my boyfriend has lots of girl "friends," but they really are just his friends. It just annoys me that most of his friends are girls. Let me ask you this: what is the risk of transmission per incident of unprotected vaginal intercourse with ejaculation?

The statistics for unprotected vaginal intercourse stands at 1/1000. I agree with Andy. Retest for HIV. I know in the US at least they routinely test pregnant women for HIV. I do not know how far along you are, whether you've had your first appointment yet, but definitely make sure you level with your doctor and get that test then. I also think using condoms would be a good idea because he just doesn't sound trustworthy or mature person. I personally wouldn't hold my faith in someone like that. You have the chance to remain HIV negative. Please be wise in that aspect.

I will go ahead and get re-tested. Would it do any good to have my boyfriend get tested now? I know he will if I ask him to. While I'm at it, I may as well ask about oral sex. There's all those times of me swallowing his semen over the last several months. And unfortunately I'm not continuing the pregnancy. This isn't a good situation to bring a child into. I keep wondering how I got here. I've always been so careful. But we had negative test results and I thought everything was fine.

I would say you guys get tested together. Aside from a few scattered cases in medical literature, there has never been a case of HIV from someone giving another person oral sex. So it is very unlikely that your oral sex with him would do it.

I think we will do that. He knows I'm all concerned about this and it hurts him I think, because he knows I don't trust him. He keeps saying "I have not had sex with anyone else since I met you in February." And he says it was between 5 and 6 months before he even met me that he last had sex. I guess it's more of my own issue for not believing him.

Even if he re-tests with you and hopefully is negative again, I would still VERY STRONGLY urge you to use condoms. This is not a stabile situation.

You two have things to sort out and until absolute and reliable trust exists I wouldn't want to see you putting your life at risk, and yes, that's just how serious unprotected intercourse is.

There just seem to be so many uncertainties here including your sexual life together.

As to what the odds are, I never get into that. When there's risky stuff I always recommend testing. Don't get into the numbers game. It will drive you nutz, although it's certainly understandable that you are anxious to have an answer and reassurance.

And remember, keep using condoms. Always.

THe risk from giving oral is at the low end of the risk scale. Somewhat riskier with ejaculation. But there have been longterm studies with sero-dystonic couples who used condoms for intercourse and no protection for oral. The results were none of the sero-negative partners became infected. That's a much more authoritative bit of information than the not well documented and rare cases reported of transmission from giving oral.

I'm going to re-test now and have my boyfriend do the same. Andy, I hear you when you say to get tested again at 13 weeks. But how do you deal with the stress of waiting? Even just the past two days I've hardly gotten out of bed because I've been so overcome with stress. And believe me I have plenty of stuff I need to do! I'm not the kind of person who puts things "on the back burner." This will eat away at me for 3 months.

I hear you about the stress. What you can do if it's helpful is to get tested at 6 weeks past the most recent unprotected intercourse. All but the smallest number of those who are going to seroconvert will do so within 4-6 after the incident. A negative at 6 weeks would be next-best to an all clear and should be confirmed by re-testing at 13 weeks.

There's no magic cure for getting through the coming weeks. Each positive (no pun intended) step you take is important. Staying productively busy can make the waiting time pass more quickly than you can imagine at this moment. You still have a life, even it's topsy turvy right now.

And you might think seriously of seeing a therapist yourself to get some support. Like I said, there's no magic cure, but you can take some steps.

Hey,If you are offended by talk of the ass, don't read on, I don't want to offend anyone. Who the hell knows what offends people these days. But I need to vent and I'm sorry. I know this isn't a dysplasia message board but I don't know where else to talk about this. Except inside my own head but lately it's too crowded in there.

If you have not been penetrated anally, then you probably are worrying for nothing.

Two months would be a very unusually quick time from HPV infection to displaying dysplasia - it normally takes much longer. It is VERY likely that your dysplasia was not caused by the HPV. Although HPV is a major cause of this problem, it is NOT the only reason women have PAP smears showing abnormalities.

But you're right, this isn't a dyplasia/HPV website. As this is a common problem, if you look hard enough you're likely to find a support board for women's GYN issues.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Ann,Do you really think that I could have dysplasia that wasn't caused by HPV? I definitlely have HPV, and have been getting annual pap smears since age 18 (I'm 27 now.) Not one has ever come back abnormal until this July. And I wasn't penetrated anally all the way, but definitley some of the way, more than once...

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

hell no i don't smoke, blech! unfortunately the bf does but he recently stopped doing it around me after i read that it makes HPV re-produce in your system more. so i forbade him to smoke around me and he's been pretty cool about it. i never knew dysplasia could be caused by something other than HPV, all the gynos have told me that around 90-95% of it is indeed caused by HPV.

also, he agreed to get tested for HIV again...but i'm scared. i know it's better to know and all that but i'm still terrified. i think we're pretty much going to break up too, i've been holding on for so long but i don't think it's right.

You've got allot of issues here you are lumping all together and perhaps you need to separate them a little to gain some perspective.

Go with what the experts said on the medical issues. Get an HIV test, ask the boyfriend to get one now. Wait 6 weeks and get the second one. IF the boyfriend is negative and you are relatively sure he didn't cheat in the past 6 weeks you can relax a little. Get the tests to be 100% certain and start fresh. Do not focus on odds, but they are in your favor regardless.

As for the trust issues, never have unprotected sex with someone you aren't sure about, end of story. Whether you've made mistakes in the past or not, you are here now. We don't throw stones, hell we're here too for different and varied reasons.

On the boyfriend issue...well, speaking from personal experience...this not having sex with you issue is a problem especially with the compounded trust thing. It doesn't go away, just ask my divorce lawyer. You can search and beg and plead for an answer as to why he doesn't want you unless you fight first, but chances are, you simply are not going to get one from him. Ask my therapist on that one.

I'm going to re-test now and have my boyfriend do the same. Andy, I hear you when you say to get tested again at 13 weeks. But how do you deal with the stress of waiting? Even just the past two days I've hardly gotten out of bed because I've been so overcome with stress. And believe me I have plenty of stuff I need to do! I'm not the kind of person who puts things "on the back burner." This will eat away at me for 3 months.

Hello Leila--You've received considerable good advice here. I will add one note which relates to the quote above and is intended to inspire you to get that test taken. The understandable stress, between a negative test and a confirming test 13 weeks later (during which time you would surely use condoms) cannot be anything like the stress one feels getting the confirming test two weeks after a positive test. That is one waltz with andrenaline and anxiety I hope you never dance. Em

411

so we got an hiv test and it was negative, which of course is totally irrelevant because he had slept with people, like weeks before me.

That quote from you isn't entirely accurate as the average time to test positive is approximately 21 days. From that point on, each subsequent negative result becomes more predictive of that final and conclusive 13 week negative.

I would certainly advise against asking your boyfriend to retest as it seems that enough baggage has already been dropped at your feet. Rather than focus on his abuse of your trust it would seem more productive from my perspective to work in consultation with your doctor in resolving both your HPV treatment and your HIV testing.

Having to test for HIV is a shitty way to learn to trust no one except yourself when it comes to the choices about your personal safety.Keep your chin up and eventually this will all fade into a bad experience in your past, except the condom part, make that your mantra.

HIV transmission does not occur outside the body as you have stated. It is a very fragile and difficult to transmit virus. And it quickly becomes deteriorated on environmental surfaces or anywhere outside the body.

You did NOT have a risk in any way shape or form.

Edited to add: HIV is also transmitted via unprotected sex as well as contaminated blood but really only through sharing of needles with intraveneous drug usage as the blood banks and hospitals prescreen any donated blood for HIV and other blood born pathogens.

« Last Edit: February 13, 2007, 03:05:44 PM by ACinKC »

Logged

LIFE is not a race to the grave with the intention of arriving safelyin a pretty and well-preserved body, but, rather to skid in broadside,thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming--WOW! WHAT ARIDE!!!

LIFE is not a race to the grave with the intention of arriving safelyin a pretty and well-preserved body, but, rather to skid in broadside,thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming--WOW! WHAT ARIDE!!!

but the paragraph above says "Although these unnatural concentrations of HIV can be kept alive for days or even weeks under precisely controlled and limited laboratory conditions, CDC studies have shown that drying of even these high concentrations of HIV reduces the amount of infectious virus by 90 to 99 percent within several hours...drying of HIV-infected human blood or other body fluids reduces the theoretical risk of environmental transmission to that which has been observed..."

it wasn't dry. it was still wet, which means they couldn't have been there for several hours. i understand that the virus wouldn't have been replicating but that doesn't mean it wasn't still in the blood.

The key phrase you conveniently ignore is the "UNNATURAL CONCENTRATIONS" this means these conditions DO NOT exist in the settings which you describe. They are talking clinically. You did NOT have a risk of HIV infection.

The sentence before your quote states...

To obtain data on the survival of HIV, laboratory studies have required the use of ARTIFICIALLY high concentrations of laboratory-grown virus.

And the last sentence says this (Which I think applies to you)

Incorrect interpretations of conclusions drawn from laboratory studies have in some instances caused unnecessary alarm.

« Last Edit: February 13, 2007, 03:19:20 PM by ACinKC »

Logged

LIFE is not a race to the grave with the intention of arriving safelyin a pretty and well-preserved body, but, rather to skid in broadside,thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming--WOW! WHAT ARIDE!!!

i'm sorry...i'm not trying to ignore anything. i just got caught up on how it said drying of high concentrations reduces the amount of hiv 90 to 99% within several hours. i'm just trying to understand what that means for a real life situation. so how long does it take for hiv to die in the air in a real life situation? if someone had a papercut or something, and they touched a wet drop or drops of blood on a table, are you saying that the person would have ZERO risk of hiv infection? without knowing how long the blood had been there?

We told you. It does not survive outside the body. And it does NOT transmit from environmental surfaces. Not to mention you were in a healthcare environment, dont know if there was HIV infected blood, do not know if the blood even MADE it onto the bandage and finally if that blood that was probably NOT infected managed to resucitate itself and transmit a virus that deteriorates outside the body into your vein, and if that now brought back to life virus somehow had the strength to infect you.

It does NOT happen that way. PERIOD.

Logged

LIFE is not a race to the grave with the intention of arriving safelyin a pretty and well-preserved body, but, rather to skid in broadside,thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming--WOW! WHAT ARIDE!!!

i'm sorry...i'm not trying to ignore anything. i just got caught up on how it said drying of high concentrations reduces the amount of hiv 90 to 99% within several hours. i'm just trying to understand what that means for a real life situation. so how long does it take for hiv to die in the air in a real life situation? if someone had a papercut or something, and they touched a wet drop or drops of blood on a table, are you saying that the person would have ZERO risk of hiv infection? without knowing how long the blood had been there?

We are speaking to YOUR risk. Now you are inventing hypotheticals. And the answer is yes, ZERO risk of infection Via the infamous paper cut theory.

Logged

LIFE is not a race to the grave with the intention of arriving safelyin a pretty and well-preserved body, but, rather to skid in broadside,thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming--WOW! WHAT ARIDE!!!

Can I ask why you are using different usernames while posting to our forums? Thus far, you have also used Leila

Please realize that this kind of activity is disrespectful of other forum members, as well as our moderators. People spend a considerable amount of time helping others in these forums. Using multiple accounts is at the very least annoying, if not deceiving and disrespectful of others. It is also against our Terms of Membership which you agreed to when you became a member. This information is also contained within the Welcome Thread, which you should have read by now. So really, you have no excuse.

You must realize that the answers won't change, no matter how many names you post under.

I would appreciate a reply to this message, and I hope you will commit to using just one account - preferably your original one. If not, you will be banned from further access to the forums.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

ann,i've pm'md you regarding my violation of the terms of agreement for which i apologize again. i know you told me to login under my original name but i can't remember the password for it and i also can't login to the email that i used when i set up the account bc it won't accept my password. is it ok if i just use this name?

all,i'm really stressing over this incident. i'm starting to feel sick from the anxiety.

First it was your boyfriend, now you are worried about a piece of gauze, what's next? You've been told you didn't have a risk and you can ask the question again and again and the answers you have been given will not change.

Yes, you did PM me and now you've given us three different reasons as to why you created a new account. The one in the PM was:

Quote

i think sometimes people make more than one account on here because they are embarrassed about their questions and don't want to keep posting what may seem stupid to other people. that's why i made another account. i was simply a little embarrassed that's all. i wasn't trying to hurt or offend anyone and i'm sorry.

I'm inclined to believe the last reason you gave, that you're obsessed with hiv.

The latest concern you brought here was not a risk of hiv or hep C either, for that matter. It wasn't a risk for anything.

I would suggest you seek the assistance of a mental health care professional to help you uncover the reasons behind your hiv obsession. We can't help you with that here, it's beyond the scope of this website.

Stop editing out your posts as well. That is a misuse of the modify function. It makes it so your thread makes absolutely no sense and I'm not going to waste my time answering your questions if you're going to do that.

Quote

all,i'm really stressing over this incident. i'm starting to feel sick from the anxiety. i had a puncture wound, directly over my vein, and the gauze was taped down over it for at least 5 minutes before i took it off and washed my hand. now people are telling me to worry about Hep C too. i already have high risk HPV, as a matter of fact, the surgery i had on tuesday was for my second Leep bc my severe dysplasia came back after the first one.

yes i know that i don't know for sure if blood got on the gauze. but i do know that it might have, and that it was absolutely not my blood.

why do i keep reading different things regarding how long hiv survives outside the body? i've read a few seconds, a few minutes and a few hours. so which is it? maybe i should have gotten pep but it's too late now.

i can't believe that nurse used the gauze on me after i pointed out there was blood on the table. i can't believe i let her use the gauze on me. if only i had made her get a new piece i would be fine right now. please help me.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

I have yet another question. I made the new name because I cannot remember nor access my password for my Leila name. Last time I was asking about getting HIV from blood on a piece of gauze. Well my latest incident happened while I was getting a manicure. Even if no one answers me, I will still post because it makes me feel better.

On March 22, I got a manicure and the manicurist cut her hand and bled on me.

At the very end when the woman was massaging lotion onto my hands, I saw a wet red spot on my hand. But she was rubbing the lotion in so it got rubbed away. Then I saw another red spot on my hand and when I went to pay her, I noticed blood all over the towel that had been under my hands during the manicure. I assumed it was my blood so I apologized for getting it on her towel. She said "no, that's not from you, I cut myself." So she got her blood on me while rubbing in the lotion, and of course I had a paper cut. It wasn't too deep of a cut but I had only done it a little while prior to the manicure. I am not sure if she got blood in my paper cut or not. As far as I can tell the rest of my skin on my hands was intact, including where I saw the blood at the end.

On April 15, I suddenly came down with: chills, fever, headache, vomiting, nausea, weakness, fatigue, muscle pain. It lasted for 2 days, then I was ok for 3 days. Then Sunday, April 22 (yesterday) the chills and fever were back, and diarrhea that's now lasted for 2 days. If this isn't ARS, please tell me what it is. I knew I should have taken PEP but the day it happened I called a local AIDS hotline and they told me my risk was so remote it wasn't necessary.

I don't know why these things happen to me but they do. Last time people thought I was being ridiculous for worrying about blood getting on gauze that may or may not have gotten on my hand. Maybe I was being ridiculous. But now it seems like too much of a coincidence for this not to be ARS.

Once again I am sorry I made two login names and broke the rules of the forum. But I am here again now sincerely asking for help.

Instead of starting more threads with questions which have absolutely no basis in HIV science, how about (re)reading the lesson on transmission. There's a link to it in the Welcome thread which opens this section.

Don't start anymore threads.

If you are having symptoms that concern you discuss them with your doctor.

This is not an HIV situation and there's absolutely no cause for concern. Period. End of story.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts